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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875378">The Angel Trap</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crollalanza/pseuds/Crollalanza'>Crollalanza</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angel/Demon Relationship, Cats, Fluff and Crack, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:34:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,243</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875378</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crollalanza/pseuds/Crollalanza</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaded after a year away from the front line training new recruits, Yaku Morisuke, Angel (First Class), leaps at Kai's suggestion that he partakes in a Demon Hunt, especially when he sees the demon. For Haiba Lev is not only stunning, but staggeringly inept, so it will not only be easy, but fun. Just the thing to revive his spirits. </p><p>Then he meets him... and the world flips on its head.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Haiba Lev/Yaku Morisuke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>93</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Angel Trap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was written for YakuLev week 2020, but obviously I didn't finish in time because it spiralled. </p><p>I don't know much about angel/demon lore, or any of the tropes, so this is a fic where I basically had a laugh because I love this pair!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Sooo, what did you want to chat about, Kai?” Morisuke asked, pulling up a chair.</p><p>“Drink first?” Kai suggested and pushed the menu his way. “Cocktails here are good or try a craft beer.”</p><p>“I’d rather you came to the point. In fact, I’d rather you’d got to the point in the office rather than dragged it out to a fake social event in your favourite bar.”</p><p>“Pleasant surroundings. Thought it might loosen you up,” Kai murmured, and signalled to the perky waiter, who scurried over, smiling. “An Angel Face, please.”</p><p>“Mmm, that’ll do,” Morisuke muttered, and tried not to scowl at Perky McPerkface with his cherubim curls. He waited for him to leave before returning to the matter in hand. “You want me for something.”</p><p>“Relaxing is a concept beyond you, Yaku, isn’t it?” Kai scooped some peanuts into his hand. “Maybe all I wanted was to socialise.”</p><p>“With me?”</p><p>“We are colleagues.”</p><p>“You’re my line manager.”</p><p>“That doesn’t mean we can’t get on, does it?”</p><p>He shrugged. “Guess not. So this is just a drink, right? No ulterior motive?”</p><p>Kai crinkled his eyes and gave a quick flash of a smile. “Well, maybe.”</p><p><em>Ah, here it comes</em>. ‘Your work isn’t up to scratch!’ ‘You saved barely anyone this month!’ ‘You’re off your game.’ No thought that it wasn’t his fault!</p><p>“You want me out,” he stated, trying to keep the menacing note out of his voice because it was hardly appropriate in their line of work.</p><p>Kai blinked. “Uh, no. I …” He stopped speaking as the waiter returned with their drinks, laying each one on their coasters and giving a smile as he backed away. “You’ve been doing a great job mentoring,” he assured him.”Shibayama, Yamamoto, and Inuoka are doing well,”</p><p>“They’re good kids,” he said gruffly. “Always smiling.”</p><p>“But … I do think it’s taken you out of the game for a little too long, so we thought—”</p><p>“We?”</p><p>“Nekomata-san and me.” He sipped his cocktail. “We thought you’d appreciate the chance to do something other than training. Stop you feeling … uh … getting jaded.”</p><p>He narrowed his eyes, thinking about protesting, but then sighed. Kai was right, Nekomata-san was right, gosh darn it, he was jaded. Mentoring was rewarding, but with three enthusiastic students, he felt weary remembering how much he’d loved the job in the old days.</p><p>“What do you have in mind?”</p><p>Kai smacked his lips together, and pushed a file across the table. “Fancy some demon hunting?” He flipped open the file, showing a photograph of a man with white-blond hair flopping over his forehead, acutely angled green eyes and sharp cheekbones,  and a mischievous grin. “This guy’s new and he’s been causing havoc.”</p><p> </p><p>Demon hunting was an emotive term. A throwback to the olden days. The epoch before the GaBinE had passed onto law. These days, demon hunting meant taking the guy or gal out for a drink, maybe asking them to go easy on some poor sucker, and if that didn’t work, then shadowing them for a few days and putting right what once went wrong (AKA the Quantum Leap amendment). Of course it wasn’t all one sided. If things were going too well for an individual or a country, then the demons had their own brand of intervention in the form of the Angel Trap, and it behoved Morisuke to avoid any traps.</p><p>Looking through the file, it was clear nothing as simple as a quiet word was going to work with this demon. If it had, then Kai would have sent one of the juniors along—Yamamoto in particular had a good line in persuasion—but looking at this demon’s history, Morisuke wasn’t surprised the job had been handed over to him.</p><p>-A toddler tantrum had led to a house burning down.</p><p>-An outdoor pool had been dyed a deep blood-red causing it to be shut down</p><p>-A chain of cafés in the city had been broken into overnight</p><p>From the intelligence gathered by … he flipped over to the end of the report to find its author … Ah, Fukunaga (reliable if a little quirky) it was all the work of one demon.</p><p>Grimacing at Fukunaga’s suggestion that someone (namely Morisuke) should have a word with the head demon, because that might save time and energy, Morisuke instead pulled out the intel on the cafés as five broken into in the same night, leaving others untouched, seemed far too demonic to be a coincidence. Of course, it could be a competitor indulging in a spot of industrial espionage, but Morisuke could see why red flags were being waved.</p><p>The main factor suggesting a demon at work were the near identical statements from the suspects, who all said they had no idea how they’d got there or what they’d done. One suspect, maybe two, giving the story could be seen as collusion, but ten people who didn’t appear to have a connection and using the exact same phraseology screamed brain manipulation.</p><p>“Fukunaga!” he called, sauntering over to his desk. “What else have you got on this guy?”</p><p>“It’s all in the report,” Fukunaga replied, smiling beatifically.</p><p>“The official stuff is in the report, but what have <em>you</em> got? Why are you so sure he’s responsible?”</p><p>“Uh…” Fukunaga cast him a look through wide open innocent eyes, and then his lips twitched. “So, this is a little left field, but there’s … um … a cat connection.”</p><p>“Cat?”</p><p>He nodded. “Mmmhmm. Apart from the swimming pool. I’ve not worked that one out yet, but this demon…”</p><p>“Haiba Lev,” Morisuke filled in.</p><p>“Yes, Haiba Lev, he stole the family cat from the burning kitchen—there’s a blurry photo from CCTV somewhere—and the cafés broken into were all branches of—”</p><p>“Kutie Kitty Kat Kafé,” Morisuke replied. “And Haiba was seen there?”</p><p>“He’s visited them all recently, and he owns a couple of Siamese.”</p><p>“Not really evidence, Fukunaga-kun.” Pausing, he studied the photograph of Haiba again, taking in the smile and the rather beautiful slanting eyes. “You’re certain he’s a demon?”</p><p>“Well, if he’s not, he’s certainly been keeping the wrong company,” Fukunaga replied.  From his drawer he pulled out another photograph of five people around a table. “Look, there he is with Kuroo, Kozume, Yamamoto—Taketora, I mean—and …” He stabbed his finger on the only female there, a willowy blonde, dressed in a trouser suit and stiletto heels as she smoked a cheroot. “That’s Alisa, right?”</p><p>“Mmm. Hey, are you telling me that’s his girlfriend?” Recently arrived from Russia the information on her was patchy, but she’d left a trail of destruction in Ekaterinberg.</p><p>“It’s <em>Haiba</em> Alisa. She’s his sister.” Swivelling round in his chair twice, Fukunaga stopped just as Morisuke was about to walk away and tugged on his sleeve. “Could save time if you had a meet with Kuroo-san, thrash out some middle ground.”</p><p>“No chance. Kuroo is a trickster and a wind-up merchant, who wouldn’t know the middle ground if it hit him with shampoo, conditioner and a free cut and blow-dry.”</p><p>“You could compromise?”</p><p>“If I approach him with a begging bowl, he’ll want something back. I’m not risking that. Besides, this Haiba guy,  what’s he gonna do? I’m Yaku Morisuke Angel First Class and he’s a raw, know-nothing demon recruit of undetermined rank.”</p><p>
  <em>And I’m going to have some fun.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He started by going on a field trip to the pool. There were two attendants there, both of them draining the pool and scrubbing the sides, which were stained in streaks of red.</p><p>“Lore enforcement,” he said, introducing himself.</p><p>“Law?”</p><p>“Yes,” he agreed, not quibbling over the homophone which came in handy when dealing with the public, because in his job he couldn’t lie. “It’s about the vandalism.”</p><p>“Police actually sent someone?” Attendant One asked, his eyes round as he continued to scrub the sides.</p><p>“Well, I’m here.” He squatted down, peering over the edge of the empty pool. “So, what do you think happened?”</p><p>“Kids,” Attendant Two replied, and stopped his work, leaning instead on his mop.</p><p>“Have you had run-ins with anyone?”</p><p>One answered with a shake of his head. “Nah, we’ve not had no trouble.  Everyone likes the pool bein’ open. ‘Specially now it’s hot.”</p><p> “They’re dumb like that. Ruining it for everyone else,” Two muttered, scowling.</p><p>“But nothing else? No reason to suspect anyone else.”</p><p>“No…” One trailed off. “There was that letter though.”</p><p>“That was a crank.”</p><p>“Letter?”</p><p>“Ignore him. It was nothing.”</p><p>“Do you still have it?” Morisuke asked One directly.</p><p>“Er, no. He told me to throw it away.”</p><p>“But you read it? What did it say?”</p><p>“Uhm … something about the fence. Said it was hazardous.”</p><p>Hmm, a demon wouldn’t care about a hazardous fence. Be more likely to cause the damage. Still he was here to pursue every lead.</p><p>“The fence?” Perusing the perimeter, Morisuke tried to narrow down the problem, but apart from a few holes in one corner, there was nothing dangerous looking.</p><p>“It was a crank,” said Two, sounding exasperated. “Said the fence needed to be mended because it was dangerous if cats wandered in. Cats, I ask you!”</p><p>Cats…</p><p>Okay, so maybe Fukunaga had a point.</p><p>Saying his goodbyes and assuring them it would be looked into (no lie, <em>he</em> was looking into it) Morisuke took the short walk to the home of the bad-tempered boy, rather than deploying his invisibility halo and wings.</p><p>The family weren’t in, only a builder refitting the gutted kitchen and currently on a tea break.</p><p>“Kid had a tantrum, was what I was told,” he said. “The birthday cake went flying, candles and all, and set light to a kitchen blind. And …” He gestured to the blackened walls and charred mats on the floor. “Voila! Still,” he continued cheerfully. “It keeps me in business.”</p><p>“There was a cat,” Morisuke murmured.</p><p>“Yeah.” He grimaced. “I was concerned I might come across its body, poor thing, but it looks like it ran off. Are you working for the family?”</p><p>“Lore Department. Insurance,” he replied. (It wasn’t a lie, as he was stringing two words together, that was all.) “Anyway, thanks for your help.”</p><p>It was as he straightened up from his bow that something flashed in the corner of his right eye. Not wanting to draw attention to the fact he’d noticed the silvered light, Morisuke backed away and determinedly looked in the other direction, but pulled out his phone.</p><p>It wasn’t a normal phone. It just looked like one. It certainly acted like a phone when he needed to contact someone, and would take photos when necessary, but the holo-projector inside it meant he could summon back-up at the twitch of a finger, and activate the weaponry needed to subdue any demon. But for now, all he needed was the shiny mirror back so he could see what was over his shoulder.</p><p>If the demon had been Kuroo or Kozume, maybe even Yamamoto, they’d have disappeared before Morisuke had even reached for his phone, but Haiba, although he’d squeezed himself flat against a wall, was visible.  Despite his occupation, he was wearing a sloppy off-the-shoulder tee shirt, sneakers and knee length camouflage baggy shorts. Although maybe they were trousers, but trousers which belonged to someone else because …</p><p>
  <em>Bloody hell he’s tall!</em>
</p><p>It didn’t daunt him. Kuroo towered over him (although most of that was his stupid hair) and he’d bested him more than once. And it especially didn’t daunt him because Haiba was so fucking useless at staying hidden.</p><p>
  <em>This is far too easy. </em>
</p><p>He swivelled on his heel, deciding to tackle this head on, and caught Haiba’s eye. With his finger on his phone, just in case he needed to use the stun function, Morisuke kept eye contact, adding a wide smile to his armoury.</p><p>Haiba didn’t move.</p><p>
  <em>I’m just too good. </em>
</p><p>“Hey,” he whispered to the immobile Haiba. “We need a little chat, don’t we?”</p><p>Haiba peered down at him. And he smiled, turning his head to the side.  “Do we?”</p><p>
  <em>Oh …  hum. </em>
</p><p>“We do,” he replied, holding his gaze until Haiba flinched. “Now, you can come quietly to my office.”</p><p>“Office?”</p><p>“Or we could keep it low-key … unofficial …”</p><p>“<em>Un</em>official.”</p><p>
  <em>Is that an agreement or is my ‘fluence’ too strong? </em>
</p><p>Then Haiba laughed. Or rather he giggled, his shoulders shaking up and down in glee. “You sound so funny, Yaku-san.”</p><p>“What! H-how do you know my name?”</p><p>“Kuroo-san talks about you all the time,” Haiba replied. “I didn’t expect to meet you so soon, though.” He looked down at him, still grinning inanely. “I don’t know how this works, but unofficial sounds good.”</p><p>Resisting the urge to kick him into next week, Morisuke squared his shoulders and turned away. “Coffee. At Kutie Kat’s Kitty Kafé. There’s one nearby. Be there in thirty minutes, or I’ll bust your ass into next week.”</p><p>“Can’t I just follow you now?” Haiba asked, and loped along after him.</p><p>“There are procedures, you know!” he snapped.</p><p>“But this is <em>un</em>official, Yaku-san. That’s what you said.”</p><p>
  <em>What the— </em>
</p><p>“Yes, but it’s … it’s … Unofficially Official. There’s a protocol here. We cannot turn up at a place together. We can meet there for our ‘chat’ but we are not supposed to—Did Kuroo teach you anything?”</p><p>“Uhm, he talked a lot. And so does Kozume-san, but I … er … kind of forget it when they’re yelling.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>“So can I follow you?”</p><p>He’d clenched his teeth and his jaw was aching, so taking a breath through his nose, Morisuke unbent a fraction and turned back to the noodle-brained idiot demon dogging his shadow.</p><p>“You go in first. I will follow in five minutes. And do not … I repeat NOT … do anything bad in the café. You are banned from interfering with its running, or initiating any robberies.  It is neutral ground.”</p><p>“Okay!” he chirped. “But what happens if I do something bad accidentally?”</p><p>“Intention is everything in our game, Haiba.” He stared straight into his eyes, refusing to lose himself in the pool greenness of them, and lowered his voice. “I. Will. Know.”</p><p> </p><p>He joined him in ten minutes, giving Haiba enough time to find a table, and himself the opportunity to observe through the window to see if he were capable of not causing havoc. But apart from an upset coffee cup, which could have been caused by one of the cats leaping onto Haiba’s lap, Morisuke could see no untoward intentions.</p><p>Haiba had ordered and was already drinking sipping a black coffee, piping hot from the look of the steam swirling around his face, and also licking the icing off a slice of chocolate cake from his finger.</p><p>“That looks yummy,” Haiba said when Morisuke’s order arrived. “So pretty!”</p><p>“Angel cake,” he muttered.</p><p>“Humm, do you always live up to the trope?” Haiba asked, and closed his eyes to lap more of the icing.  </p><p>“Trope?”</p><p>“Image, then.”</p><p>“Says the demon eating Devil’s Food Cake.”</p><p>“True.” He put down his coffee and leant across the table. “So, what happens now?”</p><p>“Kuroo really has neglected your basic training, hasn’t he?”</p><p>“Maybe I’m a prodigy.”</p><p>“Of course.” Sucking up one of the pearls in his bubble tea, Morisuke crushed it between his teeth, letting the flavour spill before he replied. “Right, the kid’s birthday party. Tell me what happened.”</p><p>“Oh… he had a tantrum because he didn’t get the cake he wanted. I didn’t even have to do much,” Haiba replied carelessly.</p><p>“He’s two.”</p><p>“Mmm, the terrible twos, I read all about them.”</p><p>“The cake was tiered. It was a large family celebration, and the boy was strapped onto a booster seat. You’re telling me you induced this kid to have a tantrum so bad he picked up the cake and threw it at the window blind.”</p><p>“That’s what the witnesses say,” Haiba replied, his voice singsong.</p><p>“Witnesses that don’t want to admit to what they actually saw, which was you, Haiba. You dashing in, picking up the cake and setting fire to the darn kitchen!”</p><p>“Me?” He clutched a hand to his chest. “I’m wounded.”</p><p>“No, you’re not. And that’s a very Kuroo move, so stop that too.”</p><p>“What does it matter?”</p><p>“Because you’ve consigned the poor kid to being known as the devil child from now on! It <em>could</em> have been a tantrum, but it’s now out of proportion and will require a LOT of work to put right!”</p><p>Clearly not liking the reprimand, Haiba added three sugar cubes to his coffee, then crunched a fourth between his teeth.  “What if he’s actually that bad?”</p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p>“The boy. Maybe he doesn’t have the strength to throw a whole cake, but what if that was his intention and he’s really not very nice.”</p><p>“He’s two!”</p><p>“He’s mean.”</p><p>“What? How do you know that? He’s a baby. Do you not understand the principles of the GaBinE at all?”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“GaBinE,” he repeated, then groaned. “You have no idea, do you? Why would I expect Kuroo to have told you this? Always cutting corners.” Splaying his hands on the table, he reeled off the edict.  “GaBinE: The Good and Bad in Everyone act of 1868 clearly states that no one is truly evil and no one is truly good. Put simply, there’s good and bad in everyone and everything.  The subsequent amendment in 1982 does make an allowance that this isn’t always the case, but stipulates that true goodness or true evil is not apparent in young children. <em>You</em> cannot categorise a toddler as bad and set them on the path of evil, just as I’m not allowed to find a cherub-faced tot and push it towards only the right choices in life! Actions have reactions, which both sides need to be aware of.”</p><p>“He’s mean!”</p><p>“You keep saying that.” He dug a fork into his cake, spearing the pink layer. “Why?”</p><p>Haiba frowned, and for the first time since they’d met, he actually looked demonic. “He’s mean to the cat. He pulls her tail and whiskers, then cries when she scratches back. The parents kicked her.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>“What would you have done?”</p><p>With a scratching cat? He shivered at the thought, not overly fond of cats. Then his training kicked in. “I’d have strongly suggested to a neighbour that they take the cat in.”</p><p>“Oh.” Haiba chewed his lip. “I took the cat.”</p><p>“Yes, I know. But did you have to burn down the kitchen to do it?”</p><p>“Well, uh …” Haiba began to chew his thumb. “I didn’t really mean for that to happen. I thought the blind might smoke a bit, and in the confusion I could rescue the cat—” He stopped talking, clapping his hand to his mouth. “OH! Rescue – I did something nice.”</p><p>“Don’t worry, burning down the kitchen and demonising a child more than make up for it,” Morisuke growled. “So, you didn’t mean to cause the fire. And the pool?”</p><p>“They won’t mend the fence! They should do that. I did warn them.”</p><p>“Yes, you did, but dying it red doesn’t solve anything. In the Angel Department, we’d have mended the holes ourselves. Or persuaded the attendants to see to it. Not threatened them!”</p><p>“Yes, but I’m not an angel.” Haiba pouted, then fluttered his lashes. “I can’t do nice things. I’m not allowed.”</p><p>Unaccountably flustered, Morisuke cleared his throat. “Forget the pool. Why did you induce those men to break into the Kutie Kittie Kat Kafés?” He gestured around them, to the cats basking in the windows, and others being fed tidbits.</p><p>“They’re <em>kept</em> here,” Haiba protested. “Imprisoned!”</p><p>“And seem to like it.”</p><p>“Well … I don’t know about that.”</p><p>“This was one of the cafes broken into,” Morisuke told him. “The thieves let them all out onto the streets first and then helped themselves to the money.”</p><p>“Hum, yes, I did suggest they took the money. Payment for the rescue plan.”</p><p>“There was a plan?”</p><p>“Oh yes! I was going to take them to the shelter and rehome them all. Only …” He was back to gnawing his thumb again, peeling back a nip of skin at the side of the nail. “They forgot the pet carriers. So annoying. I have a room full of them now. I’ll have to try again.”</p><p>“But …” Morisuke swallowed. “Haiba … Haiba-kun … they all came back. None of the cats escaped, but returned to their respective cafés.”</p><p>“Because they don’t know anything else.”</p><p>“And Kutie Kittie Kat Kafés are a good brand,” he continued, lowering his voice, soft and soothing, the ultimate persuasive tool. “If the cats aren’t happy, then they’re rehomed. If a customer and a cat click, then it can be adopted. And they give a good proportion of their takings to cat charities.” Eating more of his cake, he scraped up the last of the butter icing on his spoon, before returning to the fray. “I think you’ve been played, Haiba-kun. Your fondness for cats, leads you to enter these things without thinking properly. I’m not sure you really have the right spirit to be a demon, do you?”</p><p>Haiba stared at his hands, crumpling a napkin between his fingers. “Maybe you’re right,” he mumbled and sniffed. “They do look happy here.”</p><p>“They are. So no more incitement to rob these places, all right? And go easy on kids’ birthday parties.” With a sigh, because this had all been rather easy, he gestured to the waitress to pay his share of the bill, and then got to his feet. “A pleasure doing business—”</p><p>“But,” Haiba interrupted. “It doesn’t solve my immediate problem. I wonder, Yaku-san, if you could possibly bring yourself to help me? As you’re so kind.”</p><p>“Uh … what?”</p><p>Haiba reached across the table and tugged on his cuff. “Um, you see the cat I rescued from the burning kitchen.”</p><p>“What about it?”</p><p>“She’s still at mine, and … um … well … my cats don’t like her, and I need to find another home for her, but I’m new to this city, so I don’t know the best places and …” He peeped from beneath his lashes, his breaths coming out fast and soft now, and all the while his thumb was pressing into Morisuke’s wrist. “You’d know. Or you’d be able to persuade someone to take her in, wouldn’t you?”</p><p>GaBinE … Good and Bad in Everyone.</p><p>Even Demons.</p><p>He hissed out a sigh between his teeth. “Sure, Haiba, I can help.”</p><p> </p><p>Strictly speaking there was no need to go to Haiba’s apartment. What Morisuke should have done was waited outside for the demon to appear with the recalcitrant cat and then walked away. But, after burying his curiosity under a shedload of far more noble motives (demon redemption, intelligence on Kuroo and Alisa, need to check the welfare and status of the cats) he raised no objection when Haiba unlocked his front door and held it open for Morisuke to step inside.</p><p>He had plush dark crimson carpets and white fluffy rugs, dove grey walls adorned with cream and turquoise silk wall hangings. It was all … elegant … not exactly restful, but stylish and sophisticated. The sort of apartment Morisuke knew would need his best three piece suit, cuff links and a tie if he were ever to attend in a social capacity. Haiba, in his cut off shorts and sloppy tee, looked like an interloper. But maybe the rich and stylish didn’t feel the need to compete with their surroundings all the time.</p><p>“Nice place,” Morisuke murmured, hoping he sounded polite and not envious.</p><p>“It’s my sister’s. Or was. She’s moved somewhere else now. Rusalka… Vila … where are youuuu?”</p><p>“Who?”</p><p>“My cats. You must meet them. They’re both so beautiful.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m here for the other one.”</p><p>“She might take some coaxing. Sit down, if you wish.” He twirled, his eyes crinkling at the sides and the tip of his tongue slipping through his pearly, pink lips. Morisuke swallowed, then sat on what had to be the lushest sofa he’d ever encountered. One in which he could become both enveloped in and enamoured with. </p><p>“Rusalkaaaaa, Vilaaaaaa,” Haiba crooned. “I’m home.”</p><p>Morisuke side-eyed the door. “I don’t need to meet them.”</p><p>“But they’re both gorgeous and would love to meet you,” Haiba replied. “Besides, if they’re in here with you, I can find Jasperina.”</p><p>As he finished speaking, two identical cats with question mark tails meandered into the room. Siamese, with aquamarine eyes, they stared haughtily at the guest, who suddenly felt uncomfortable as if he were appropriating their favourite spot.</p><p>“Should I move?” he asked Haiba as the pair of cats slunk towards him.</p><p>“No, they’re fine. They’ll settle in a while,” he replied happily and wandered out of the room.</p><p>Morisuke leant forwards. “Hey, puss puss,” he chirped, stretching out his hand to pet.</p><p>Both cats hissed.</p><p>Haiba’s voice floated into the room. “Be nice, girls.”</p><p>Withdrawing his hand, Morisuke settled back into the sofa trying to ignore the two pairs of eyes observing him. But it was hard because it seemed as if every time he even twitched a finger, their whiskers would flicker. Then one of them approached, sat by his left leg, buffeting his calf with his paw. He reached down, this time surprised to find the cat amenable to being stroked. The other cat stayed where she was, half turning her attention to the door like a guard.</p><p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p><p>Just as he jerked to attention, the cat by his leg jumped onto his lap, pushing her face into Morisuke’s chin and kneading her paws into his legs. She was soft and velvety, warm and purring as she settled herself into him, her tail trailing up his arm.</p><p>“You really are rather welcoming,” he whispered, and began to stroke her ears, letting the tension flow out of him as she continued to purr.</p><p>Haiba had been a while, he thought, then dismissed that as inconsequential because what did it matter?  He had the rest of the day to sit here, collapsed in fur cushions and with the most beautiful of cats needing his attention. Staring into their large eyes again, he wondered if the cat would ever blink as his own lids began to droop under the intense scrutiny.</p><p><em>A nap would be good.</em> He chuckled. <em>A cat-nap.</em> </p><p>From out of nowhere, a yowl and a flash of orange and white fur streaked into his vision, upsetting not just the cat on his lap but the other Siamese who was now curled around his legs. The orange and white fluff bucket, leapt in the air, teeth bared and lashing its tail, landing square on Morisuke’s chest, his claws latching into his shirt.</p><p>“What the!” As he leapt to his feet and off the sofa, the Siamese cats dashed under the sofa, but the new arrival stuck his face into Morisuke’s neck and patted his paw against his mouth. “I get it. A fucking Angel Trap. How could I fall for that?”</p><p>He was wide awake now, thoughts of sleep had fled as soon as the newest cat had landed upon him.</p><p>“Jasperina, I presume,” he murmured.</p><p>‘Jasperina’ hissed, but quietly.</p><p>“Okay, so you don’t like the name. What’s up? Want to get out of here?”</p><p>“Mew.”</p><p>“I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, so,” he whispered, “I’m going to find a cat basket, and we’re going to leave. That good with you?”</p><p>“Mew.”</p><p>He sidestepped to the door, bent down to check the sofa and discovered the two Siamese still watching him, so shutting them in, Morisuke crept across the landing. The carpets and walls, something he thought stylish before, now oppressed him, so abandoning the idea of calling Haiba for a basket, he instead stepped towards his shoes, deciding to keep the cat in his arms.</p><p>But as he planned his escape, he heard Haiba speaking.</p><p>“Yes, Kuroo-san. He’s here right now. I’m not sure how long Vila and Rusalka can keep him occupied, though. He doesn’t seem like a good cat person to me.”</p><p>“I can’t get to you straight away, Lev,” came Kuroo’s reply.</p><p>Great. Stomach tightening at the thought of the meeting, the excitement at the fray of the battle of wits vied with irritation at how easily he’d been caught. Led astray by a hard luck story and his inability to abscond from the dictates of the GaBinE. (He refused to entertain the thought that a pair of slanting green eyes might have contributed.)  </p><p>The bedroom door was slightly ajar, and through the crack he saw the hologrammed image of his nemesis, projected from Haiba’s phone and onto the wall.</p><p>“And Tora’s with me, so …”</p><p>“Is Kozume-san not here?”</p><p>“Yeah, good luck with that,” Kuroo drawled. “Look, I kinda didn’t think you’d succeed … uh … so quickly, I mean. But you have, and that’s great. Just … I’m stuck with this stuff with the Orange One right now, so …”</p><p>Morisuke could see Kuroo’s brain process, the hand to his chin, the scowl and then the flip of his stupid hair as he thought up the solution.</p><p>“Where’s Alisa?”</p><p>“Uh, she went to Paris,” Haiba muttered, and his cheeks pinked.</p><p>“Food or shoes?” Kuroo snapped.</p><p>“Um, a heist at a shoe boutique,” Haiba admitted. “Um, what do you want me to do now? Vila and Rusalka can’t trap him forever.”</p><p>“Nope, you’ll have to do that. At least ‘til I can get back.”</p><p>“Me? How?”</p><p>“Gahhd, you wouldn’t think you and Alisa were related! You must have some charms, Lev-kun, ya noodle, otherwise he wouldn’t be here.”</p><p><em>Oh, is that right?</em> Morisuke bristled.</p><p>“Charms? You … OH!” And now Haiba was blinking rapidly.</p><p>“Now the cogs are whirring, eh, Lev-chan.”</p><p>“But … uh … I don’t know if …”</p><p>“C’mon, he’s not unattractive, is he?”</p><p>Breath thoroughly bated, Morisuke held Jasperina close to stop her wriggling.</p><p>“Is he?” Kuroo murmured, widening his eyes as he focussed in on Haiba. “Ahh, you’re blushing.”</p><p>“He is … um … kinda … um …”</p><p>
  <em>What? What am I?</em>
</p><p>“That’s my boy. I’ll be along in an hour, two at the most!”</p><p>“But…”</p><p>Whatever objection Haiba was about to voice, it would be to an even emptier room as Kuroo’s image abruptly clicked out.</p><p>Lips twitching, Morisuke weighed up his next move, which should be to spring the Angel Trap by leaving the apartment forthwith with the cat. The most satisfying  scenario, however, would be to leave with not just the cat but also Haiba following docilely to the Angel Head Office.</p><p>He stepped away from the door, walking backwards until he found himself at the door of the lounge, and called in a dreamy voice, “Haiba-kun, the other cat has appeared, so I could leave now. If you wanted me to.”</p><p>“Uh… no.  NO!” Haiba yelped and barrelled out of his bedroom, whacking his arm on the door frame. “Ow. Um … no, you don’t have to leave yet, do you?” Adding a wobbly smile, he leant over Morisuke, and stared into his eyes, unblinking.</p><p>
  <em>Oh, not bad.</em>
</p><p>Normally, Morisuke would have kicked his ass by now, mainly as Haiba was trying to use his height advantage to intimidate him, but also because the seduction was so blatant.  He repressed whatever urge was swirling in his stomach (must be laughter) and gazed back, adding in a few shuttered blinks, the way cats did when they knew they’d lost the battle of wills.</p><p>Haiba’s smile became less wobbly. He raised his hand, and began to stroke Morisuke’s cheek, all the while holding eye contact.</p><p>Jasperina hissed.</p><p>“No, no, sweetie,” Haiba soothed, scratching her ears until she began to purr. “You’re cute, too.”</p><p>
  <em>Too?</em>
</p><p>“Haiba…” Morisuke whispered, deliberately biting his lip. “Haiba … what … is …”</p><p>“Hush…,” he murmured, and lowered his head to Morisuke’s level. His breath was warm on his neck. “You may call me Lev.”</p><p>“Lev,” he said, like an automaton.</p><p>(His stomach was still flipping. Damn laughter!)</p><p>“Now, shall I take Jasperina from you and we could … uh …”</p><p>“Uh?”</p><p>“Get to know each other a whole lot better.”  </p><p>Dear Heavens above, where had he got that line from?</p><p>“Do angels have fun?” Haiba asked, tilting his head to the side.</p><p>“Uh… I don’t know,” Morisuke lied, enjoying himself enormously at that moment. “It’s … what are you doing? I feel … strange.”</p><p>“Taking the cat from you. And then … um …” He’d started to blink again. “Um, my sofa. You should lie down. Yes, lie down. And I’ll fetch you some water. Or a drink. Yes, alcohol. Do you like vodka? Are you allowed to drink?”</p><p>Morisuke squinted, trying to clear a vague mist in front of his eyes. “Uh… your cats … they don’t like Jasperina, so … uh … wow, you have beautiful lips, Lev-kun.”</p><p>
  <em>Lips? I meant to say eyes What the heck is … No, get a grip. Get a Hecking Grip. </em>
</p><p>“Um, they’ll be f-fine,” Haiba stammered.  “I’ll stay with you all the time and—oh, what are you doing?”</p><p>He’d clutched Lev’s wrist, tugging him away from the lounge. “May I lie on your bed, please, Lev-kun? I need some space until this weird, floaty feeling disappears.”</p><p>And then he timed a stagger, falling into Haiba, landing his face against his chest and letting his lips come into contact with his exposed shoulder. “I’m so sorry,” he breathed into him.</p><p>He felt rather than heard the hitch in Haiba’s throat. Then as he pressed his lips into his collarbone, Haiba squeaked and thrust him away.</p><p>“Yaku-san,” he said, staring at a blank spot on the wall. “I … uh … I think, maybe you need to lie down.”</p><p>Rubbing his eyes, Morisuke made of show of considering. “Maybe I should leave. I can’t think why I was staying. I’ll take Jasperina and leave you to your cats, Haiba.” And he stepped towards the front door.</p><p>“No!” Haiba grabbed his wrist. “Stay. Lie down. Um, use my bedroom, it’s fine.”</p><p>“Ohhhh.” He glanced at Haiba’s hand on his wrist, then in one swift, fluid movement, he brought it to his lips, petalling a kiss on each of Haiba’s knuckles. “You do have such beautiful hands, Lev-kun.”</p><p>“I do?”</p><p>“Yeah, and honestly,” he murmured, stepping much closer until they were almost touching, “if I weren’t an Angel, I’d be… well … thinking un-angelic things about you.”</p><p>“You would?”</p><p>“And that’s bad, isn’t it?”</p><p>“Uh … is it?” Haiba swallowed. “I … uh … do think you’re sorta cute, Yaku-san.” He bent down, pecking a kiss on Morisuke’s nose, then gave him a wobbly smile. “You could stay a while longer. I won’t say a word … promise …”</p><p>“But angels and demons …” Morisuke whispered. “We’re not supposed to … it’s taboo, Lev-kun, and if anyone found out…” Stopping because now Lev had let his mouth drift to Morisuke’s neck which was … <em>Hecking wow! … no, I have to get out now, but </em> … <em>okay, maybe a little longer </em>…</p><p>It was the cat, obviously, who snapped him back to the job in hand. Jasperina meowed and butted her head against his leg, and while he was luxuriating in Haiba’s kisses, he could also sense the hesitancy in him, which propelled one thought to the front of Morisuke’s mind. <em>This is all Kuroo’s idea.</em></p><p>Sliding his hand to his pocket, he pulled out his halo band, and in a trice snapped it around Haiba’s wrist.</p><p>“Nice try, Haiba-kun,” he muttered, stared up at him, then grabbed his other hand to twist into the halo handcuffs. “You’re coming with me.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Don’t make this hard on yourself. I’m taking you to Angel Headquarters. You can spend the next few days in a cell relearning the basic GaBineE. Don’t worry,” he said cheerfully, “I’ll let Kuroo know where you are!”</p><p>“K-Kuroo?”</p><p>He switched off the smile. “Yeah, Kuroo-hecking-Tetsurou. Your boss. I heard both of you plotting.”</p><p>“Uh… you did? I don’t know what you thought you heard,” Haiba tried, jutting out his lower lip, “but—”</p><p>“’ You must have some charms, Lev-kun, ya noodle, otherwise he wouldn’t be here.’” Morisuke parroted, then glowered up at Haiba. “I’m sorry to put you to so much trouble, but we will be leaving now.”</p><p>“Oh … please … no. This is my first assignment and Kuroo-san will be so mad with me if I’m arrested. The pressure … you know, living up to my sister, and joining this crew, who are like the elite demon squad!”</p><p>“Elite!” Morisuke scoffed. “You really have been fed a line, haven’t you? Is that what you wanted … to become an elite?”</p><p>“Um, sort of,” Haiba nodded. “I mainly wanted to save cats.”</p><p>“And you thought you could only do that by honing your demon qualities. You didn’t think about setting up a cat rescue centre at all? Leave all this evil behind and become a normal, kind person?”</p><p>“Normal people suck,” Haiba muttered. “They’re not kind. And I’m good at persuading people.” He peered at Morisuke. “Don’t you think?”</p><p>He swatted him away, cuffing him like Jasperina would a kitten. “Stop that.”</p><p>Craning his neck, Haiba bent around him, coming closer. “You thought I was persuasive and Kuroo-san only wants to talk.”</p><p>“If that’s really true, then he needs to go through the correct channels,” Morisuke scoffed. “Any sort of truce or negotiation requires the rules to be followed. I know that. He knows that. Even a demon as inept as you knows that!”</p><p>Haiba pushed him away. “You’re not very nice for an angel, are you?” he sulked.</p><p>“And you’re not nearly manipulative enough for a demon,” Morisuke retorted, but he could feel a laugh welling inside of him at the sight of Haiba now slumped on the floor, snuffling into his sleeve.</p><p>“I am trying,” Haiba wailed. “Really hard. But Kuroo-san keeps on at me. Says my manipulation is good, but planning is bad and I need to pass everything through Kozume-san and he’s a whole other level scary!”</p><p>He was right there. Kenma could freeze with one glance, and set someone into flames with the next.</p><p>One solitary tear splashed onto Haiba’s arm. And it was in that pitiful moment that something in the region of Morisuke’s chest plummeted into freefall.</p><p> He poked Haiba with his toe. “What will happen if he arrives here and both of us have gone?”</p><p>“I’ll be sent back to Russia. Kuroo-san already said I’m lucky to be completing my probation here. And I’m not sure I can take Vila and Rusalka with me.”</p><p>“Oh… kay. So … if I leave and you’re still here, is that better?” He crouched next to him, lifting up his chin with two fingers. “Answer truthfully, Haiba-kun.”</p><p> “It’ll be put down as another Lev screw-up,” he replied moodily, then he peeked up at Morisuke again, “but if they know I succeeded a weeny bit, I <em>might</em> get another chance.”</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Morisuke sifted through the various options currently circling through his mind. “Here’s a deal for you. First of all, if I let you stay here and don’t drag your ass down to Angel jail, I want some information in return.”</p><p>“I can’t do that! I’m not allowed to, and also …” he gulped. “They don’t trust me with anything important.”</p><p>Fair enough. Likely to be true.</p><p>“Do you know why Kuroo is desperate for you to keep me here?”</p><p>He shook his head and another tear formed. “Like I said, he tells me nothing.”</p><p>“But do you have an idea?”</p><p>“No… oh …” He stared up at the ceiling and his brow creased. “He talks about you, sometimes, well quite a lot actually. I think … um … well … Yamamoto-san mentioned … in passing … that Kuroo-san misses the tussles. You’ve not been on the front line as much, have you? Does that make any sense?”</p><p>It did, oddly. The battle of wills between the pair of them, the constant to and fro, the excitement of going toe-to-toe with Kuroo, all these were something he missed too. Training was an essential part of his job, but kicking off the dust to head into a fight was always exhilarating.</p><p> He ruffled Haiba’s hair as he got to his feet. “I’m going to go. Tell Kuroo whatever you have to about how I escaped.”</p><p>“Oh… okay. Um … will you still sort something out for Jasperina? That was true, I promise.”</p><p>A demon making a promise. ‘A piecrust promise,’ Nekomata used to say, ‘easily broken.’</p><p>“I’ll take Jasperina off your hands,” he replied and bent down to scoop her up.</p><p>“You won’t send her back to that family, will you?”</p><p>“Nope. I believe you. But …. Haiba-kun, however horrible they were to the cat, it still wasn’t a good enough excuse using a young kid as your vessel.”</p><p>“I know…” He tickled Jasperina behind the ears again and giggled. “It was funny though.”</p><p><em>Maybe I’m doing the wrong thing here,</em> Morisuke thought as he left the apartment. Has he learnt a thing? <em>Apart from that a sob story will get him out of most situations.</em>  </p><p>With rain clouds gathering overhead, and a grumpy cat hissing at being stuck in a carrier, Morisuke looked for a quiet alleyway, pulled out his transport halo and flew them straight back to headquarters.</p><p>“New recruit?” Kai asked, eyeing Jasperina.</p><p>“Rehoming,” Morisuke muttered and let her out of the cage. She began to prowl around Kai’s office, rubbing her head against the desk legs.</p><p>“Not with me. I’m more of a dog person,” Kai replied. “Why is it here?”</p><p>“This was the reason Haiba destroyed that family’s kitchen.”</p><p>Kai closed his eyes and lolled back in his chair.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You think Haiba’s redeemable, don’t you?” Kai replied.</p><p>“I … I … uh …” Did he? He thought over the day, from Haiba’s insistence everything was done for the good of the cats, so maybe that did mean he only needed guidance. Perhaps he could change, furrow forward on a different path, use his manipulation for good … except … that giggle … those eyes … the lips… the feeling that Morisuke could turn his back on everything and live in that kiss.</p><p>“No.” He sighed. “He’s a demon, all right.”</p><p>“Good and Bad in Everyone,” Kai murmured.</p><p>“Yup.”</p><p>“The world needs both.”</p><p>“Mmmhmm.”</p><p>“And your cat’s scratching my desk.”</p><p>“Not my cat.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Well, maybe.” He tickled her under the chin. “Look, I’m going to head off home now. Haiba will, I’m sure, be less chaotic for a while. He was trying to impress Kuroo with an Angel Trap.”</p><p>“Which you sprung, clearly.”</p><p>“Whaddyer take me for? It was easy as pie, and as tasty as angel cake.”</p><p>“You had fun by the look of it,” Kai said, perusing him. “Not seen you this relaxed for a while.”</p><p>“Part of the job, that’s all.”</p><p>But as he turned to leave along with Jasperina (he really should change her name, now she was staying) his lips tingled.</p><p> </p><p>She appeared to like his apartment, not the least put out by the large windows, pastel colours and wooden flooring. Fetching a bowl, he added a splash of milk, then finding some prawns in the fridge, he offered them to her, gratified when she wolfed them down, then returned to wind herself around his legs.</p><p>“It’s a little more Spartan than your last place,” he told her. “And you won’t sink into the couch, but if you want to stay, then I’m not about to throw you out.”</p><p>“Mew.”</p><p>“That’s settled then.”</p><p>She jumped up onto the window sill, sprawled along the ledge and watched the cars below as the dying light of the afternoon flooded in.</p><p>Kuroo would be back by now, and he wondered what was happening. Haiba had seemed resigned to his fate, knowing he’d get bawled out, but then again, Kuroo hadn’t expected the trap to work so he could be going easy on him.</p><p>Kuroo going easy on someone—the thought chimed discordantly in his mind.</p><p>“What shall we do, catkin?” he mused. “Haiba did at least try to take good care of <em>you</em> even if he wasn’t concerned about the methods he employed.”</p><p>“Mew.”</p><p>“Agreed.”  </p><p>Walking to his bureau, he found parchment and a quill and began to pen a letter, chewing his lip as he considered. He’d have to play this subtly, even if the desire to get Haiba off the hook could well give Kuroo leverage over him.</p><p>
  <em>You’re slacking, Kuroo, using the raw recruit on me.</em>
</p><p>“Heaven give you wings,” he murmured to the note, then folding it into a paper aeroplane, he threw it from the window.</p><p>He didn’t have to wait long for a reply. Red paper, and twisted tail flaps causing the plane to corkscrew towards him.</p><p>The gold ink glittered menacingly. <em>Interesting that you’re messaging me. Gotta wonder why you’re bothering.</em></p><p><em>Annoyed you think I’d fall for so obvious an Angel Trap. I’ve not been off the front line for <span class="u">that </span>long, </em>he wrote, then sucked in a breath as he pondered his next sentence. <em>Tell Haiba the cat’s fine, by the way.</em></p><p>
  <em>You’ve got the cat! Did you actually go to his apartment?</em>
</p><p>Here it was … the admission that could get Haiba out of shit, and himself into it.</p><p><em>Yes,</em> he replied and made a show of adding the fullstop.</p><p>Kuroo’s next aeroplane drifted in, almost insolently, tipping its wings as it landed on Morisuke’s lap.</p><p>
  <em>That’s a little taboo for an angel, isn’t it?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What do you know about angels? </em>
</p><p>
  <em>More than you about demons, my little cherub. He got to you, didn’t he?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It was the cat. You know how good my heart is.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>HA!</em>
</p><p>There were no more messages after that. Morisuke scowled rereading everything Kuroo had sent, knowing in turn he’d be scrutinising every line Morisuke had written in an attempt to cause mischief.</p><p> </p><p>A week later, Morisuke had settled back into a front line routine. With Kuroo back in this country too, there was a lot of low-level mischief, things that needed clearing up before they escalated. Balances to be kept, deals to be struck, the importance of harmony to keep the world on as even a keel as possible. He waited to be summoned to Nekomata’s office over his breach of the rules, for however well-intentioned, rescuing a cat was not a good enough excuse to visit the home of a demon, especially letting him off the hook by not making an arrest. However the days passed with no reprimand, so he found himself patrolling the area where Haiba had carried out his raids the week before.</p><p>The burnt out kitchen was coming along, and he dropped by just when the owners were there to supervise the refits. Lurking, he caught snippets of their conversation, and rolled his eyes at the tone employed when talking to the workmen.</p><p>“The cat’s not turned up,” one of the fitters said. “We left out a saucer of milk, just in case.”</p><p>“Never mind about the darn cat. Those cupboard doors need to be cinereal.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“That’s grey,” she condescended. “It’s our aesthetic.”</p><p>And Jasperina certainly won’t fit. With no qualms over keeping the cat. Morisuke left, making his way to the outdoor pool.</p><p>Attendant One waved him over. “Yeah, we’re open now. We scrubbed it out and refilled. Closed for two days, that’s all.”</p><p>“And I see you mended the fence.”</p><p>One scratched his head. “Uh … no, someone else did that. I was going to, but I dunno, it musta been the day after you turned up, I came here and saw all the holes had all been mended. It wasn’t you then?”</p><p>He shook his head, refused the offer of a cup of tea and walked off, closing the gate carefully behind him. Loose ends tied up, he strolled with his hands in his pockets for a while, enjoying the sun on his face and the clear sky above. He’d treat himself. Bubble tea and cake, his mouth started to water. He knew just the place for it.</p><p>“I remember you. Angel cake, wasn’t it?” the waitress said, greeting him.</p><p>“You have a good memory.”</p><p>“I pride myself on it.”</p><p>“I think I’ll try something different today though.”</p><p>Smiling up at him, she whipped out her order pad. “That’s good. We’ve just sold the last slice to your friend over there.”</p><p>He glanced over his shoulder, not entirely sure what to expect, but then not surprised to see a tall, gangling, blond-haired demon, stabbing dubiously at a slice of angel cake. So, after placing his order, Morisuke joined him with no fanfare or question.</p><p>“Are you stalking me, Haiba-kun?”</p><p>“I was here first,” he protested, and took a slurp of his coffee. “How’s Jasperina?”</p><p>“She’s lively.”</p><p>“OH!” He clapped his hands together. “You did keep her then?”</p><p>“I did. She likes my window ledge and sprawls in the sunshine every afternoon.”</p><p>“That’s good. They like warmth, although Vila and Rusalka prefer to curl up by the fire. Jasperina always preferred the light, that’s why I thought she’d be perfect for you.”</p><p>The waitress returned, delivering his bubble tea and a thick slice of cake. “Enjoy!” she chirped.</p><p>“Devil’s Food Cake!” Haiba’s eyes bulged, and Morisuke heard the longing in his voice.</p><p>“Thought I’d try it,” he said, and dipped his fork into the rich, gooey ganache. It tingled on his tongue—not unpleasantly—but there was a bite to it, one which intrigued him, and gently nudged him into trying more, but at the same time he already knew the full slice was too much. Over the table, Haiba was eating the angel cake in tiny bites, smacking his lips together as he savoured each layer.</p><p>“This is good,” Haiba said, a touch hesitantly.</p><p>“But?”</p><p>“Um… it’s different. Not as flavoursome.” He frowned and tried some more. “Not bland, but I’d need to eat it quick and then some more to get my rush. What about you?”</p><p>He attacked the sponge, wondering if it could make him feel the same way as the frosting. Again the almost spicy tang danced on his tongue. His mouth watered, but his throat protested a little as he swallowed. “This,” he told Haiba. “is rich, but a little too dangerous for me. I could eat half a slice, any more and I’d regret it.”</p><p>“You could take it home in one of their pretty boxes.”</p><p>“I’m speaking metaphorically.” Half-smiling, he pushed the plate across to Haiba. “Shall we swap?”</p><p>“No. I think you need the whole dark experience,” Haiba replied, chuckling. “Besides I’m enjoying this, really. It’s light and makes me feel good.”</p><p>“Are you allowed to feel good?”</p><p>“Demons aren’t excluded from the GaBinE,” Haiba replied, adding slyly, “and neither are angels.”</p><p>“Touché!”  He returned to the Devil’s Food Cake, licking small crumbs off the fork, indulging himself with the heady dark chocolateyness of it all Yet, despite the permission, it was too much and with a third of it left, he pushed the plate away for the final time. “I won’t take the rest of this home. Please, you finish it.”</p><p>Haiba leapt on it, devouring the rest with all the force of a starved dog, but with a satisfied smile on his face when he finally finished. </p><p>And when they were both done, and there was no need to prolong sharing a table and making small talk, Morisuke leant back in his chair and asked, “Why did you call the cat Jasperina?”</p><p>“She’s the colour of jasper,” he replied simply. “And they’d called her Tiger, which is dull and predictable, so I had to change that. Is she still Jasperina?”</p><p>Morisuke nodded. “We’ve both grown accustomed to it. And jasper is healing, did you know that?”</p><p>“UGHHH! I should have called her Kechibi!”</p><p>And that was it. With nothing more to say, he gazed across at Haiba wondering if this would be the last time they met as relaxed as this—almost friends. Tomorrow they could return to hostilities and who knew how Haiba would develop? Perhaps he’d remain this string bean of mischief, he could just as swiftly evolve into an ice cold foe.</p><p>“What are you staring at, Yaku-san?”</p><p><em>Mischief is better than ice, </em>he told himself.</p><p>“You. There’s chocolate on your lip.” He leant across to wipe off a non-existent smudge with his light, pink napkin, and let his thumb grace the corner of Haiba’s mouth, taking a glimmer of delight from the spark in Haiba’s eyes. “That’s better. See you around, Haiba-kun,” he murmured, and rose to his feet.</p><p>But then Haiba grabbed his wrist, tugging him back down to his chair.</p><p>
  <em>Jeez, another Angel Trap! I really am that dumb.</em>
</p><p>“What are you—”</p><p>Haiba was staring at the table, then lifted his eyes to look straight at him. “Thank you,” he mumbled.</p><p>“Huh?” He looked around, still wondering where Kuroo was.</p><p>Haiba’s breath whistled out across Morisuke’s knuckles and he tugged him closer. “Kuroo-san was going to expel me when your paper plane came. He didn’t believe you’d been to the apartment. He thought I’d lied about everything.”</p><p>“Demons lie,” Morisuke stated, quoting from his handbook. “That’s their purpose and tragedy. They are never believed, and don’t trust anyone.”</p><p>“Except angels,” Haiba replied and sniffed. “I knew I could trust you to take care of Jasperina, but I didn’t realise that kindness would extend to me, and I’m … I’m grateful because, as Neesan <em>continues</em> to remind me, you broke a taboo to help.”</p><p>“It was nothing.” He extracted his hand from Haiba’s and gave him the smallest of smiles. “Take care of yourself.”</p><p>“It doesn’t have to be a taboo, though, does it?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Um… well, being friends or … uh … whatever,” Haiba whispered.</p><p>“But it is.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Whatever’ especially is.</em>
</p><p>“We’re on opposite sides, Haiba-kun with differing approaches and perspectives on the world. That’s why anything else is taboo.”</p><p>“But it’s not impossible,” Haiba insisted. “Yamamoto-san’s sister is an angel, isn’t that so?”</p><p>“We-ell...”</p><p>“Their mother’s a demon, their dad’s an angel,” Haiba persisted. “So they must have broken the taboo at least twice, right?”</p><p>He was staring across at him, his eyes wide but forlorn. And it could be a trick. It could be Haiba’s latest attempt at manipulation, but there was no drifting mist in Morisuke’s mind, only a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach and a thread of light before his eyes.</p><p>“You make me feel … kind, Yaku-san.”</p><p>“And you,” he admitted, tone hushed, “make me feel un-angelic.”</p><p>“You said that at my apartment. I thought you were lying.”</p><p>“Angels don’t lie. I meant it.”</p><p> “And that’s a bad thing?” Haiba asked, looking mournful.</p><p>A <em>mixture of wanting to kick your ass into next week, or kiss you so much we’ll be too breathless to deal with the world.</em></p><p>“Good and bad,” Morisuke replied.</p><p>
  <em>In everyone. In everything. </em>
</p><p>The world continued to turn, the waitress scurried past with a tray piled high with cupcakes, a cat batted a fly on the other side of the window, but all Morisuke could see was the curl of Haiba’s fingers as he reached across for his hand again.</p><p>
  <em>Every action has a reaction.</em>
</p><p>“Look,” he muttered, “if you want to visit Jasperina, then we could arrange something.”</p><p>“Break a taboo?”</p><p>
  <em>Maybe a few.</em>
</p><p>With his thumb he stroked Haiba’s cheek, smooth and soft, and thought again about those lips on his neck, and the knowledge that his response had not only been about springing the Angel Trap. There’d been a heady indulgence, a powerful reaction far more genuine than any demonic mesmerisation “What do you think, Lev-kun?”</p><p>Twisting his face to the side, Haiba nudged his palm, like a cat enticing its human for a caress. “I’m not sure I’m thinking of anything, right now,” he breathed into Morisuke’s hand. “Except … yes.”</p>
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